Bolivia’s Lithium Isn’t a Gold Mine

The Salar de Uyuni salt flat is the pride of Bolivia, spanning nearly 7,000 square miles and drawing thousands of tourists to its surreal bright-white landscape. It also lies atop a stockpile of lithium, a mineral crucial to the clean energy transition that’s long given hope to the country’s faltering economy. Bolivia is home to roughly 20 percent of the world’s lithium deposits, mostly beneath…